


To Sir, with Love

by missdibley



Series: Wonderful Electric: Stories from Orbital 4 [6]
Category: Archipelago (2010), British Actor RPF, Crimson Peak (2015), Crimson Peak (2015) RPF, Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Androids, Existing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, OB4, Orbital 4, Sci-Fi, The Companions - Freeform, Valentine's Day, fearful symmetry, latestarter58
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 15:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13684794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missdibley/pseuds/missdibley
Summary: It's Valentine's Day on Orbital 4, and a visitor to the Knightons may have a solution to little Phoebe's most pressing problem.





	To Sir, with Love

Edward Knighton arrived home to find his daughter Phoebe sitting behind the wheel of her toy car. The vehicle, which usually zoomed to and fro around the lounge of their apartment on Orbital 4, only wobbled when the little girl tried to propel it forward with her feet.

“What’s wrong, Fee?” Edward set aside his satchel by the door, then crossed the room to kneel beside her on the soft carpet.

Phoebe wiggled where she sat. “No go, Daddy.” She pressed her hand against the center of the plastic steering wheel, which caused the car to make a forlorn honking sound.

“I’m sorry to see that.” Edward held out his hand, offering his child a smile as he did. “If you pop out, I’ll see if I can fix this.”

Julie emerged from the kitchen, holding a small red toolbox in her hands. “Hello, love.” She pressed her lips to the top of Edward’s head, smiling when a few stray curls tickled her nose. “I was just about to give it a go.”

“In your delicate condition?” Edward grinned.

“Yes, in my condition!” Julie rolled her eyes, then eased herself onto the sofa to watch them. “Okay, but if given the choice between sitting and fixing one of Phoebe’s many toys? I’m taking the sit every time, Knighton.”

“Duly noted,” replied Edward.

“Daddy!” Phoebe tugged on his rolled-up shirt sleeve. When he peered at her, she pouted. “Fix  _ pease. _ ”

The toy car was a souvenir Julie had picked up on a work trip to the Mars colony, which was where the residents of the satellites and colonies that orbited Earth shopped for what was new and fashionable. It was outfitted with the horn, lights, mirrors, and even a digital license plate that could be be programmed with different messages. But for all its bells and whistles, it would not go.

Edward carefully turned the car over, murmuring as he inspected the undercarriage. It was there that he discovered, hidden just behind a plastic panel that concealed it, an axle completely snapped in two. This made the wheels pitch at a sharp angle, and so they could not touch the ground to move the car forward.

“Uh oh!” Phoebe pointed at the axle, then looked at Edward. “Car boo boo.”

“Let’s see if I can mend it.” But Edward couldn’t remove the axle, or straighten out where it remained. “I think it’s stuck.”

“Wanna dive, Daddy.” Phoebe’s bottom lip began to tremble, and her eyes began to water.

“I know you do, but I can’t fix it now,” said Edward, apologetically.

“Fix now,” replied Phoebe stubbornly.

“Now Fee…” Julie interceded, detecting the rise of panic, and a possible tantrum, in Phoebe’s voice. She looked to Edward. “Anything in the toolbox that might help?”

Edward rooted around in the red toolbox, finding every weird little implement they had used to do simple repairs or put together furniture. But nothing that might enable the repair of the axle. “Nothing here.” He put an arm around Phoebe. “After supper, alright? I can call Uncle Magnus or Uncle Oakley. They might have something.”

“But I wanna dive now.” Phoebe pet the car. “Car sick.”

“I know.” Edward hugged her and brushed his lips against her temple. “We’ll sort it later.”

“Why don’t we finish our Valentines?” Julie turned her attention to a little table, upon which was littered sheets of paper stamped with hearts in shades of pink and purple. “That way they’ll be ready for tomorrow to give to Uncle Magnus and Aunty Holly.”

“Uncle Henry and Aunty Cate and the girls,” continued Edward.

“Aunty Hannah and Uncky Loki, of course.” Julie laughed. “And let’s not forget the most important person of all.

“Bibby Figga! Bibby Figga! Bibby Figga!” Phoebe ran to her table, barely giving Julie a second to put a smock on her before she got to work.

“Hello?”

Edward and Julie looked up  to find Sir Thomas Sharpe standing their doorway. He was dressed casually in a black button-down shirt and trousers, and carried a small brown bag in his left hand.

“Sorry,” he said, his cheeks flushing. “Your door was open and I…”

“Of course!” Edward stood up, taking Sharpe’s hand in a hearty handshake. “What brings you here? We haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I haven’t seen much of anyone, I’m afraid.” Sharpe offered his cheek for Julie to kiss when she joined them to take his bag. “It’s been so busy at the shop.”

“How is that going?” Julie led Sharpe to the sofa.

“Insanely busy, which is fantastic.” Sharpe leaned back and relaxed. “After tomorrow, things should settle down.”

“Has it been very busy?” Edward inquired.

“Almost as soon I got the space in the Verdi module, right after leaving Companionship in the autumn. There wasn’t much time before Christmas, Yule, and all the winter holidays.” Sharpe showed them his hands, which bore faint scratches and cuts that he hadn’t yet healed on his own. “Building music boxes and making wind-up toys is tough work,” he said, with pride.

“So what brings you here?” Julie glanced at Phoebe, who had dipped her right hand in a dish of lavender paint and was now stamping the paper with it.

“I wanted to pester you about your trip to Mars,” replied Sharpe. “Dr. Janet said you shopped for toys whilst you were there, and I was curious about what the shops stocked.”

Julie pointed at the toy car. “How about that? Let me tell you, the flight attendants on the shuttle back to OB4 were not happy to see me when I showed up with that as my baggage.”

“It looks like the real thing,” he said, meaning the little electric cars the denizens of Orbital 4 used to get around.” Sharpe’s eyes lit up when he saw the car. “So why isn’t wee Phoebe zooming about in it now?”

Phoebe looked up at the sound of her name and sighed loudly. “Car sick.”

“The front axle is broken,” Edward explained.

Sharpe looked thoughtful. “I think I have something in my bag. May I?”

He got to his feet, retrieving his satchel from where Julie had placed it on the floor. He made himself comfortable, sitting in the spot where Edward had sat, and carefully rolled the car on his side.

“I help!” Phoebe got up, still wearing her smock, and plopped down next to Sharpe.

“Okay, Fee, just give Sir Thomas a little room, okay?”

“She’s fine,” Sharpe replied, before peeking at Phoebe. “Ready?”

“Uh huh.”

Phoebe’s wide were wide as she watched Sharpe reach in and, with a little maneuvering, removed the broken axle. When he scratched his head in thought, so did she. When he said “huh” to himself, she echoed him. “Ah!” Sharpe remarked, pointing his finger in the air, and she made the same gesture. When he went into his bag for tools, Phoebe scooted closer for a better look.

Sharpe’s solution was simply to replace the axle. He showed Edward and Julie a metal rod. “I built a doll’s bed as a Christmas gift for a client, and I used a few of these to reinforce the frame. This has been rattling around in my bag since then.” Holding it out for Phoebe’s approval, he nodded. “I think this will fit once I trim it.”

And it did. Her car now repaired, Phoebe took a victory lap around the lounge. laughing and honking along with the car’s horn.

Gathering up his things, Sharpe offered his hand to Edward. “Well, I should be going. But Julie?” He waited for her nod. “Okay if I stop by the archives tomorrow to talk all matters Martian?”

“Of course,” she said, cheerfully. “Thanks for fixing the car, Thomas.” She went up on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. As Phoebe went past, she stepped in front of the car and held up her hands to stop it. “Phoebe, come say goodbye and thank you to Sir Thomas, please.”

Phoebe stuck her head out and smiled. “‘Kay, Mama.” But instead of presenting herself to Sharpe, she ran to her table and began sifting through the heart-covered sheets.

“Phoebe Julia!” Edward’ looked at Sharpe, shaking his head. “Sorry, not sure what she’s doing over there.”

Phoebe ran to them, clutching a sheet in her hands. She held it out to Sharpe, who got down on one knee to take it.

“What’s this?” Sharpe allowed Phoebe to look over his shoulder. His eyes sparkled when he saw that it was a red heart, dotted with four black dots at the bottom, so that it resembled a little car. Surrounding the heart-shaped car were small pink handprints.

“Is this a car?” Sharpe laughed when Phoebe nodded. “Thank you, Miss Phoebe. I am delighted.”

“Tank you, Taw-mas.” Phoebe patted his cheek gently, which she was used to seeing her mother do. “Uh oh!” She pointed to his face. “Sowwy.”

Sharpe touched the spot, not at all surprised to find she had left a smudge of pink paint on his cheek. He smiled again. “Thank you, Phoebe. Happy Valentine’s Day.”


End file.
